Analysis of a Successful Hubber: Ryan Kett
76If You Want to be Successful, Imitate Success
One of the best ways to be successful is to hang out around successful people, identify the characteristics that make them successful and then seek to imitate those characteristics. Successful people will often use mentors and coaches for instruction and focus. Even TIger Woods, the greatest golfer in the world, has a swing coach. Since it really isn't possible for me to have a successful Hubber looking over my shoulder while I write and explaining what it takes to be successful and make money with HubPages, I thought that the next best thing would be to identify someone who is successful and see if there are a few characteristics which stand out.
Ryan is a Money Maker
First Hubber for Analysis is Ryan Kett
If you have followed Ryan like I have, you realize that Ryan is well on his way to being a big time money maker on HubPages. His results for the first year are nothing short of amazing! He has gone from zero daily views to over 15,000 and from $7 earnings per month to over $700 in AdSense alone. So what are the characteristics that have led to his massive growth in traffic and revenue? I think that I have identified 3 characteristics that have made Ryan a rising HubPages star.
Ryan Works His Butt Off!
It should go without saying, but one of the main prerequisites to success is hard work. I know that most people don't want to hear this. They want to know if there are some short cuts, some easy ways to get rich quick. But that simply doesn't happen. If you want to make money at HubPages, it is going to take some major effort.
And as far as hard work is concerned, Ryan is over the top! This guy works full time (and sometimes even more) and has still managed to publish over 400 Hubs in just over a year. That is more than one Hub per day. Until you are publishing that much material, don't even think about whining that you don't have enough traffic or earnings.
My Hottest Hubs (one of Ryan's tricks)
- How I Increased My HubPages Traffic by 20% This Month
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- Finding High CPC Keywords Using Google Adwords
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Ryan Works Continuously!
If you look at Ryan's graph of traffic history in his AdSense and Amazon earnings Hub (which I have linked above), you will notice that there is a fairly continuous line of pink at the bottom. This line of pink represents published Hubs meaning that Ryan was publishing new Hubs almost every day.
I have noticed that when I publish a new Hub, I will often get a little boost of traffic along with another follower or two. I believe that this consistency in publishing benefits Ryan's traffic immensely. It keeps his name in front of the crowd here at HubPages and keeps his name in front of his followers. Publishing this frequently is like putting a commercial on TV during primetime every night of the week. Eventually, someone will notice. I also believe that this ultimately helps out Ryan gain more Google traffic since it encourages traffic to all of his Hubs (I explain my theories about traffic on my blog). People will read and comment leading to new and fresh content creating a positive feedback loop.
Ryan also does some backlinking but I honestly don't think this is as crucial to his success as the continuous publishing of new material.
Ryan is Engaging!
FInally, not only is Ryan's writing engaging, so is his personality. It is not by chance that he has over 1200 followers. He has almost 4000 forum posts. He is an extremely active Hubber in all aspects. He publishes a lot and participates in the forum a lot as well. Again, this helps keep his name in front of the HubPages community and causes people to be curious about his writing. The increased exposure and traffic simply adds to (and I would dare say multiplies) his success.
So What Can I Learn?
So, if I want to take away a few learning points to increase my success, what should I do?
- I should be prepared to work hard. I know that I can't publish as many articles as Ryan. With my work and 6 kids, my schedule is too busy. But I shouldn't use that as an excuse to not work hard when I do have the time. There is no reason that I can't publish 100-150 Hubs per year. So, I need to set some goals for publishing
- I should also space out my Hubs. I may have a sudden surge of creativity and be able to write 3 or 4 Hubs in a day. But I should space them out over the course of a week so that my followers and other Hubbers can have time to read and react to what I have written. I can also backlink over the next few days after publishing as well making sure that each Hub is adequately marketed.
- Finally, I should make an effort to participate in the community by writing Hubs that offer helpful advice, being a mentor for others, and participating in the forums. Personally, I am not incredibly social and make a terrible salesman. But sometimes it pays to identify our weaknesses and work to improve those traits in order to become successful.
I hope that this Hub has been helpful, and you have been able to learn a few of the characteristics which makes for a successful Hubber. I am sure that it won't be long before Ryan is approaching the $2000 per month mark. I wish you the best, Ryan!
Feel Free to Browse at Amazon
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 | Amazon Price: $14.99 List Price: $19.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $199.00 |
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| Amazon Price: $149.00 |
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What Leads to Success on HubPages? I Would Love to Hear Your Thoughts.Loading...
Backlinking is slightly over rated. My own sites have now got around a million page views a year, and I've never really done a huge amount of linking.
Lily,
I agree that Ryan has done a tremendous job here on HubPages and is one of my favorites.
brett,
I am glad that I am not the only one who feels that way. I am sure that CNN doesn't backlink. The key is to just get some traffic started and ultimately it will feed on itself.
Your analysis is helpful to hear! It is also encouraging because I'd much rather write and engage in the forums than work so hard on backlinking a lot. I know some is needed, but this energizes me to think Hubpages is more fruitful for creative effort.
Thanks, Ms Dee. If you read about Ryan's backlinking, it really isn't all that much compared to others. If you get into the habit of submitting to a few sites right after you complete an article and tweet each one, that might be all it takes. Over time, the traffic will begin to appear. I have done very little backlinking myself but have noticed a nice steady increase in traffic. I think sometimes that just time plays a role as well. Be patient and keep writing.
Interesting analysis Kidgas. I think that you are right about the qualities of a successful hubber. In my mind, working hard and just continually publishing hubs is one of the best success factors because you learn over time what works and what doesn't and you can go back and edit the hubs that are underperforming.
I do not know how much your followers contribute to your success in sales because most of your sales will not come from other hubbers, but from the "outside world". But it is helpful to be part of the community. :)
WOW! I am honoured Kidgas. This came up in my 'Google Alerts' which tells me whenever my name is mentioned (narcissistic maybe but useful nonetheless!).
I would like to make one comment though, please do not underestimate the longer term effects of backlinking. It may take months to see the result, but it really does push you up the search engines. The increase on traffic from moving up just once place from say 3rd to 2nd or 2nd to 1st for a popular search term can be unbelievable. I have seen a hubpage move from 2nd to 1st and double in traffic. Its not the direct traffic which I seek when backlinking, that really isn't worth it, rather the longer term search engine traffic (which is also the most valuable).
@Brettb - Its great that you have achieved such great success with your personal websites without backlinking, but in the past 30 days I have had 550,000 page views from my hubpages alone! That is a rate of 6.6 million page views per year! Good luck though.
Thanks again Kidgas, I look forward to seeing who you feature next. I would nominate Darkside as a good person to observe, I watch him pretty closely.
@lake,
You bring up a wonderful point about being able to discover what works and what doesn't which is an awesome benefit of publishing a lot of material. While I don't feel that followers will help with sales, my point is that they help generate initial traffic which I have a feeling will help in the SERPs. I am already on page 1 for the keyword phrase "Ryan Kett" with this hub. LOL.
@Ryan,
No, I would never underestimate the power of backlinking. I am saying that for your style of hubbing, I think backlinking is less crucial to your success. So to those who might not enjoy the linking as much, I would offer hope. However, I do think that some backlinks need to be made for sure.
Darkside is definitely on my short list but not the one that I had next in mind. He is probably #4 in the sequence. I am partial to Darkside since he was very helpful when I was first starting out on HubPages. Plus I have all six Star Wars movies on DVD and watch them frequently. After all, "Do or do not. There is no try." --Yoda
Ryan certainly shows how to make a lot of money! That graph of page views and hubs published is very encouraging but at the same time very daunting - not sure if I can manage several hubs a day!
@BB,
That graph is incredibly daunting. I know that it is impossible for me to sustain a pace like that. What I am planning on doing though is to shoot for a couple per week on a steady basis. My graph won't have the same slope, but if I publish regularly at a comfortable pace and add some backlinking, participate in the forums, and just keep at it, I think the traffic and earnings will follow.
Instead of seeing Ryan's type of growth in one year, it may take me close to 5 years but at least it offers the encouragement to keep going.
@BristolBoy - I believe that the graph actually shows the number of hubs per 3 days or 3.5 days or something. I have published around 1 hubpage per day since starting 13 and a half months ago, certainly not several ;)
Still, a hub a day is pretty intense especially for someone working full-time as well.
Congratulation to your great zsuccess Ryan Kett. I wish he would press the magic button for me. I backlinking and linking and wrote quite a number of hubs and still can't get the number sof clicks up as much as I would.
I agree with you. we have to learn with success people. It can drive our passion and give us motivation doing better. I thought Ryan Kett is the success ones. Very inspiring. Thank you very much. Vote this up.
Prasetio
Good analysis
Thanks to you both. I always hope to be helpful when I write.
Great analysis, I think Ryankett is a mentor to learn from. I am currently learning secretly from him. He fires in you the impetus to succeed on hubpages.
Great engaging hub Kidgas. I am amazed at Ryan's productivity here, I just assumed content based sites was his full-time work. I am going to have to step it up a notch.
Thanks, kazeemjames. I think you will learn a lot from Ryan that is for sure.
@surf traveler: The productivity that Ryan exhibits is almost super-human. I could never produce the amount of content that he does.
the more I write , the less traffic i get.. at least someones making money here.maybe its because i stopped participating in forums... who knows.. i'm not ambitious enough to work and write.. i treat it like a part time hobby..good to see that others are taking the time to encourage others on the site and acknowledge others who are good writers... he writes good statistical hubs. been following his work for a few months now... a very unique hub .. enjoyed it.
Thanks, mel. It is difficult to work and write. Sometimes you just have to relax after work to keep your mental health. Ryan indeed has good Hubs also. Sorry that your traffic is down. I would say just a bit of participation in the forums would help the traffic.
Great Hub, And he does work his "Butt Off". For me Traffic is slow some days and great others. I've noticed if I write 3 or 4 hubs in one day My Traffic isn't so great. Though if I write one Hub it turns out I get more traffic than the 3 or 4 hubs per day. Weird but it's whatever hard work is key to success if you truly work for it.
-DD
Thanks. That is strange that 3 or 4 per day would generate less traffic but if one each day works well, then go for it. Save those extra to be published another day.
Great hub, congrats.
I'm a Ryan follower for some time, the hub he made on his earnings was quite inspiring to me.
It was quite inspiring to me as well. We could all learn a lot from Ryan especially regarding his work ethic.
Great hub I liked it.
Helpful tips Kidgas. I agree with your points.
Thank you Kidgas, this is much useful for me.
Ryan is another of my hubber heroes and someone who inspires me to keep trying! A really great hub!
I am inspired by Ryan to keep publishing. Eventually I feel that the volume of Hubs can add up to significant earnings.
Hmm, so it's hard work, eh? Just like in real life! I keep telling myself to get down and write more, work more and find that as I have improved and produced, I am making more money. My only complain here is about myself! I start writing hubs, set them aside....
Dolores,
Too bad, huh? It would be nice to just sit around and watch the money roll in. Sounds like you have been putting in some work and are getting the hang of it. Just make sure you get those Hubs finished that you have started since you never know which one may be a big winner.
I also follow Ryan and from the start I was analyzing his work, what he does exactly to have such a huge success. I also noticed that he publishes lots of hubs; say one per day, which is in my opinion a lot. I'm sometimes amazed how many new hubs he has written. Every time I see a list of his new hubs, I say to myself that I will write more hubs, because that's what drives traffic actually. Not any hubs, but quality hubs of course. But, unfortunately, just like you said, I'm busy most of the time, I have s small child and I'm expecting the other one soon, I work a lot, so it doesn't leave me much time to write one hub per day. Maybe this is just an excuse, I doubt that Ryan does nothing but write for HubPages :o))
I really enjoyed those hubs, I like analyzing things in order to find improvement (my professional defect :o)).
I know Ryan works a lot and publishes a lot as well. I also think that soon he will be working online as his only source of income. That will make him that much more successful.
Like you, I am busy. I could publish at a rate of one Hub per day, but try to achieve some balance in my life and spend time with my family as well. They are more important than making some extra cash. We all have to prioritize in one way or another.
A really great hub!
This is now sitting at number 2 in the search engines for my name! Google did a bit of a jiggle with my name which is fantastic because its dropped some really crummy stuff (e.g. comments left when I was 16, forum comments made in the heat of the moment, etc) so that's great!
Ryan,
That is awesome. I hope lots of people search your name so that I can get the benefit of all those searches. Maybe some advertisers will want to sell some name related products as well. Hopefully someday you will be incredibly famous and own a perfume brand or something. LOL!
Well in the UK perfume is what women own, men wear 'aftershave', I'm not too sure that I am heading towards that level of fame, and neither would I want it. Just to own an Alexa top 10,000 site would suffice :)
What I want to know is:
How many of those 50 cent books, about pugs, does he sell on the Coco article? She is a doll, and the ad cracked me up. ROFL.
It made my day.
Very nice article.. i hope also to make money from hubpages..
archbishop1,
I don't know the answer, but little things like that can add up to be quite a bit.
Roffi,
Best of luck to you. Work hard and smart and you should do well.
I like this article, nice and simple with clear pointers. I wonder if the pot of gold is really at the end of the rainbow? Having said that, my Hubs are right up there in Google - no-one looking for inf on Limousin can miss me! Also I'm finding out about all sorts of fantastic things that I would never have known about in a month of Sundays - shoe fashions, dresses from Japan, and the influence of Alice in Wonderland on fashion & vice versa - all through the marvels of Google KeyWord searches. Videix to Tokyo - what a journey.
Glad that you liked my analysis, Les.
Not only does it enlightens you but prepares you to have the zeal to write
Great hub and very informative, I like the goals idea and am setting myself some tonight.
I've also been following Ryan and would like to emulate his success but I don't think I can work quite that hard LOL! I have been through ups and downs with Hubpages recently but think you are right, in order to make any decent money you really need a lot of hubs so I think I need to keep going. Nice hub kidgas.
I am not so sure that HubPages is where I would be focusing my efforts now, although I am starting to see some traffic returning. I have been focusing on my own blog and working hard. I am almost to the point of making more money with that site than I am here with about 1/6th the content.
Yes, I agree kidgas. I also have about 10 websites of my own that I am starting to build on and they do earn more than my hubpages account so I am kind of veering between the two. Things are building up and I guess it is a question of putting work into both :-)
I know that Archbishop1 isn't going to be back here, but if I had seen that comment I would perhaps have pointed out that I reach the 8% commission threshold on Amazon and that without pushing very low cost products I would never get anywhere near it. A $1000 sale in a non-restricted category is worth $80 to me, and $40 to somebody on 4%, makes no sense whatsoever to limit yourself to high value goods if the result is simply less commission! The answer is no though, I probably haven't shifted any.
I would be surprised if he did see your response, but it makes a lot of sense to me. I understand your logic.
seriously, this article is inspiring. Thanks for sharing your experience =)
This is great analysis, and very helpful. I've read two, off to read the third.
It is a shame that the changes to the Google algorithm affected the effectiveness of earning with HubPages, but everyone needs to learn how to adapt to make money on the internet.
Yes The top hubbers here can teach us a lot about making more money from writing articles online. It does take time and hard work but when writing is your passion, like for me, then it is so worth it!
It is useful to learn from those who are successful, but as things change, you also need to learn to adapt.
@kidgas I analyzed the hubs of all the hubbers featured in "success stories" to learn the structure of their product hubs. By doing this, anyone can learn a lot of what works and doesn't work to maximize earnings on HubPages.
;)
Lily Rose Level 2 Commenter 21 months ago
Great idea for a hub! Ryan is awesome - I have been following him since I've been here and he has given me many great tips to help me succeed here, too. I look forward to seeing who you feature next!